Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease can manifest itself in many different ways because the blood vessels transport blood to every single part of the body. The heart is the organ that pumps the blood around the body, and it also receives nutrients from the blood vessels (via the coronary vessels). Any interruption of the supply of blood containing nutrients and oxygen to one of the body's organs leads to functional impairment and, in the worst case scenario, the death of the tissue. One typical example is cardiac arrest, which occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is restricted. Cardiovascular disease can have any number of causes. Some people are born with a susceptibility to vascular disease (e.g. varicose veins), which can be alleviated by taking medication. Other people's heart and blood vessels can be damaged by external factors. The majority of vascular diseases these days, however, are caused by our modern-day lifestyles. The walls of the blood vessel are always in contact with the blood which flows through them, so they are most commonly affected by unhealthy lifestyles. If someone has an unfavourable haemogram, i.e. if their blood contains too much glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides (fats) or nicotine, this can put the blood vessels under an enormous amount of stress. Glucose adheres to the walls of the blood vessels and the blood constituents, and cholesterol and triglycerides also accumulate on the blood vessel walls. As a result, the blood clumps, the blood vessel walls "calcify", turn porous and can no longer perform their biological function properly. Nicotine also constricts the blood vessels, so they narrow and the amount of blood circulating the body is reduced. If the condition is aggravated by a lack of vessel-protecting substances, the damaged vessels lose their ability to regenerate. The consequences include arteriosclerosis, leg ulceration, dilation of the abdominal artery (aneurysm), cardiac insufficiency, cardiac arrest and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is still the number one cause of death in Germany and many other western industrial nations. Substances such as vitamins C and E, some of the B vitamins, secondary phytochemicals (such as the flavonoids which are contained in vegetables, reservatol in red wine, catechine in tea) and omega-3 fatty acids (fish) can protect the blood vessels. Sufficient physical activity also helps the blood vessels to retain their elasticity. People who change their lifestyle can therefore contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Once cardiovascular disease manifests, the range of therapies available are as varied as the symptoms themselves. The objective of any therapy is to normalise circulation (e.g. with medication to 'thin' the blood) and to repair or remove the damaged vessels. It is therefore important to take an integral approach to therapy which doesn't simply eliminate specific damage, but improves the entire cardiovascular system. After all, the damaged blood vessels are the underlying problem, not the strokes and heart attacks.